Source: United States Senator for Ohio Sherrod Brown
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office for Justice Programs (OJP) has awarded a $392,453 grant to the Hamilton County Public Defender Juvenile Division (HCPDJD) through the Enhancing Juvenile Indigent Defense program. These funds will allow the county to expand its ability to provide high-quality juvenile defense for youth in the juvenile court system for its Breaking Barriers Initiative. It is expected that the project will help improve case outcomes, reduce recidivism, and promote the successful transition into adulthood for court involved youth in two Hamilton County localities with high delinquency referrals and high poverty levels.
“This investment will help make sure young people have the tools they need to overcome past mistakes and turn their lives around, and become contributing members to their communities,” said Brown.
HCPDJD will engage a civil legal services attorney, student interns, and national experts to ensure participating youth have access to education and safe, stable housing, and address collateral consequences, through civil legal services; provide juvenile-specific attorney training, including ten community educational forums in the targeted localities.
Enhancing Juvenile Indigent Defense program will support states and localities in developing and implementing strategies to improve juvenile indigent defense. The goal is to ensure that youth involved with the juvenile justice system have access to legal representation and access to resources that address the collateral consequences of justice system involvement.
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